


Bring Colour to My World

by androgynousclintbarton



Category: Naruto
Genre: Black Mark soulmate au, M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Kakashi has always kept the mark on his face hidden from the world to avoid questions and assumptions. Until one day a mission goes wrong, and the right person gets the chance to touch the mark no one ever see's.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 95





	Bring Colour to My World

Kakashi’s mark was always hidden from prying eyes. As a child he had gotten sick of hearing people gush about it. Asking him if he thought he might know who the ‘lucky person’ was, or if he was already planning out their life together when he found them.

Even older shinobi were more concerned with that big black spot on his face than they were with his skills. They always wanted to talk about his soul mate, and whenever he would ask them to teach him something or try to change the subject to how he wanted to be a strong shinobi they would shut him down.

They didn’t care about what he wanted. Only the mark on his face.

So he hid it away. Covered it so that people didn’t bug him about it anymore. It only took a few weeks before everyone forgot it even existed and his skills started to shine.

He had gotten what he wanted. No one spoke to him about his ‘soulmate’ when they saw him, but instead focused on all of the jutsu’s he knew and how his genjutsu training was going. Some of them even asked him about whether or not he planned to follow in his fathers footsteps and carry a tanto.

It lasted for a year, and then his father came back home from a mission shamed and rejected by his own village.

That was when even Kakashi forgot about his soulmate mark. How could he remember it when all he heard about every day was what a failure his father was. How he had shamed all of Konoha by choosing to rescue his teammates rather than finishing his mission.

He still wore his mask. Going without it felt almost wrong after wearing it for so long. Besides, the last thing he wanted was for people to start talking about his mark again.

Not when he was trying to prove himself after his fathers death.

* * *

“You’re injured,” Gai’s hand reached out towards his face, but he slaps it away. It’s not as bad as he’s making it seem. Just a cut on his cheek that he had gotten while trying to protect Gai when the enemy tried to strike him while he was busy facing off against another shinobi. “Kakashi, let me take a look at it.”

“It’s fine,” he insisted. “It’ll heal on its own. Just leave it be.”

“It’s not fine,” Gai dropped his hand to his side and frowned. “It’s bleeding really badly. I think your mask is ruined.”

He’s exaggerating. The cut doesn’t even sting that bad.

Reaching up, Kakashi touched his cheek cautiously and cringed when he felt blood staining his mask.

Ok, maybe he wasn’t exaggerating.

“See what I mean?” Gai leveled him with a hard look. “Now take off your mask. I’ll fix it up for you.”

“No,” shaking his head, Kakashi turned to leave the scene. The last thing he needed was for Gai to see his mark. He’d never shut up about it. “I’ll get it taken care of back in the village. We should...”

A hand came down onto his shoulder, forcing him to turn back towards Gai and planting him in position.

“Let me see it,” Gai’s eyes are soft and full of worry. “Please, Kakashi.”

Realizing that Gai wasn’t going to give up on this as easily as he thought, Kakashi gave in and carefully pulled his mask down off of his face. His gesture was met with a sharp intake of breath from Gai.

“It’s worse than i thought,” Gai’s hand reached out and gently touched the skin under his wound. “It’s going to need stitches I think.”

Stitches? They didn’t have time for Stitches.

“Can we just settle for a bandage and go home. I think I trust Rin more with stitching me up.” Medical ninjutsu wasn’t exactly Gai’s area of expertise.

“Fine. Only because you actually let me take a closer look though.” Watching as Gai started to search his pockets for his field med kit, something given to every shinobi when they made chunin, Kakashi couldn’t help but focus on the warm tingle on his cheek.

He’s not sure if it’s because of the wound or because of Gai’s touch. All he knows is his hand is itching to reach out and feel it, but he holds off. Gai would have so many questions for him if he did that and questions were the last thing he needed right now.

* * *

It feels like forever before Kakashi and Gai finally make it back to Konoha, and even longer before he finds himself sitting in the hospital with a doctor standing in front of him carefully peeling away the bandage Gai had put on his cheek.

“Oh...” He wasn’t quite expecting the surprised gasp that the doctor let out when she saw his face. She had been informed of his wound and how bad it was by Gai, so there really wasn’t something to find shocking. “Hatake-san, when did your mark gain colour?”

Colour?

“It doesn’t have colour,” Kakashi narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t possible for his mark to have colour. His face was always hidden behind his mask so even if someone did touch his cheek it wouldn’t change his mark. “It’s just...”

There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he remembers the feeling of Gai’s hand against his face.

His uncovered, bare face.

“Shit.” He hissed, eyes scanning the room for any sign of a mirror. He had to see it for himself. To know that she wasn’t lying to him.

“Here,” digging into her pocket, the doctor pulled out a small mirror and held it out to Kakashi, smiling when he took it from her and opened it to see the vibrant splash of colours on his face.

Yellows and greens. The brightest picture he has ever seen, and it’s painted there on his skin. As vibrant and bright as the man who had touched his face.

“Damn it,” he snapped the mirror shut and held it back out to the nurse. “Thank you...”

This was a whole issue he had no interest in dealing with, but here he was. Having to process the fact that his soulmate was non other than Maito Gai. His self proclaimed eternal rival and the only person he knew who was willing to deal with the attitude that made everyone else hate him.

This could not end well.

* * *

“Dango?” Holding out a stick of Gai’s favorite treat, Kakashi watched as his friend looked up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. “Come on, Dango always cheers you up.”

“Dango can’t fix everything, rival.” Even as he said that Gai reached out and took the stick from Kakashi, instantly chomping down on the first sweet ball of dango.

“I think it’s good enough to fix a little bit of heartbreak.” Taking his seat by Gai’s side, he watched as he lowered the stick of dango so that it was dangling between his legs and swallowed the little bit he had already bitten off. “You know, I don’t think she was a good fit for you anyways.”

“It’s not about that,” Gai grumbled under his breath. “Her reason was just...it was so stupid.”

“Stupid?” Raising an eyebrow, Kakashi waited for Gai to elaborate on what he meant.

“She just...she didn’t think we should even try because we’re not soulmates,” Gai’s voice was weak when he spoke again. “Can you believe that? She’s so concerned with who her soulmate is that she won’t even have a little fun before she finds them.”

“fun? is that what that was to you?” Kakashi tilted his head. “I thought you really liked her?”

“I did,” looking down at the stick in his hand, Gai sighed. “I guess it’s just different for me. I know i don’t have a soulmate.”

Now that was bullshit. Kakashi had first hand experience with the fact that Gai had a soulmate. The proof had been painted on his skin for the last five years, and it was a main factor in why Kakashi had learned to eat as quickly as he did.

The less time he spent with his face exposed, the less questions he got about his mark.

“How do you know that?” He asked, not wanting to start a fight by calling Gai out when he was already feeling so down. “Maybe you just haven’t met them yet. Or maybe they haven’t touched you yet?”

The second one. It was absolutely the second one. He had made sure to always avoid touching Gai, too afraid of how his friend might react when his mark changed colours because of Kakashi’s touch.

Terrified that Gai would reject the answer he got, and end the longest standing friendship that Kakashi had. The friendship that had seen him through some of his darkest times already.

“All of my friends have touched my mark Kakashi,” Gai’s shoulders drop in defeat. “Everyone. They all wanted to see if it was them. If they were the one i was meant to be with. It never changed. There’s no colour.”

Glancing down at the mark in question, Kakashi examines it. It’s not big. Not like the full hand mark that sits on his face. Two lines down his right arm, starting at the top of his shoulder and ending in the middle of his bicep.

The exact pattern Kakashi had been thinking of running his fingers down Gai’s arm for years, even when he wasn’t thinking about the mark that sat there.

“It’s fine, I’ve accepted that I’ll be alone,” Gai smiled over at him, trying desperately to hide away the pain that’s so clearly hidden behind his eyes. “I just. I thought maybe even if i didn’t have a soulmate. If something happened to them, that i might be able to enjoy someone’s company anyways. Even just for a bit.”

Not bothering to answer, Kakashi reached out with two fingers and gently ran them down along Gai’s arm, smiling when the black spot sprang to life with a mixture of dark purples and forest greens.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pulling his hand back, he kept his eyes on the mark. The only thing he had seen that was more beautiful was the beautiful mixture of yellows and greens that stained his face. “I think it looks brilliantly colourful.”

Gai’s eyes moved down to look at the mark in question, widening when he saw the colours that had come to life there on his arm. “Y-you?” He glanced up at Kakashi, eyes full of excitement and glee. “You’re my soulmate?”

“Ma, don’t make a big deal out of it,” resting his right arm on his knee, he looked out towards the village. Gai really had chosen the perfect place to hide away. Lord Firsts carving had the best view of the village. “we’re fifteen Gai. There’s no rush.”

When Gai’s arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug all he could do was cuddle up closer and close his eyes.

Gai had become his safe place years ago. Even before his mark had lit up with that beautiful vibrant colours he could never take his eyes off of when he looked into a mirror.

The only place he could relax. Stop wearing the mask that the rest of the village saw and just be Kakashi for a little while. Not a shinobi, not a friend killer.

Just Kakashi.

“She wasn’t a good fit for you,” He repeats his early statement, chuckling when Gai smacks him in the arm. “I think you look best with a silver haired ass hole by your side.”


End file.
